What is so great about familiar things? Doesn’t it just keep us in a stagnant state of being? There are those who sit in their back yard and gaze at the birds feeding. Some people live through the experiences of what others do. They are too afraid to leave their back yard or the painfully comfort surroundings they live in. Or they are too tied down to obligation. Obligations to American Idol, the latest gossip, etc. Whatever.

For me, I’ve got to get out of my back yard. I can’t stand it maybe. I feel as if my life is a waste if I stick with the familiar. What is the point really in sitting around and not having adventures? I don’t know. I make up my life as I go. It has always been like this. Am I a freak for wanting adventure or change? Is it a crime to be idealistic? Is it stupid to rise above the brainwashing skepticism of the World?

The world is what I make it. It’s about self-reliance, independence, and faith. Have we lost all this? Must we rely on Government or Obama to solve our problems?

Suggestion: Get out of your back yard. There’s a whole world out there.

I got into the BJM in late 1999. It was well before Dig but after the Viper Room and other events made “famous” in the movie. Put aside all the fistfights, verbal attacks or whatever, the music of the Brian Jonestown Massacre stands the test of time. Forget all the hype of Anton Newcombe being some crazy guy. Who cares? It’s about music right?

Starting in late 1999, I was lucky enough to see the band in person while living in Los Angeles. Anton was a cool dude to me. I never saw any of the abuse the movie is so based upon. In fact, he’s quite intelligent and courteous.

But the mark left with me from experiencing the BJM firsthand is tremendous. If I could sum up what I have gotten out of it. For me it left me with the feeling that I can have numerous chances to do “my thing.”

It’s about going for it no matter what, not giving up. Striving through all the hype. One does not have to be near famous to have hype about them. It seems that most families have hype. They have opinions on how one’s career should be or when they should marry, etc.

With the BJM, it’s about showing the press or mainstream or others that they are wrong with their close-minded routine thinking. It is a wake up call to society to think more positively and courageously with vision. A Beatles’ song comes to mind: “Think For Yourself.” Words are “Do what you want to do and go where you’re going to. Think for yourself ‘Cause I won’t be there with you.” It’s about standing on you own feet. Making your own history.

It is funny how when I read news stories about this famous person or that. The articles always bring up the past. Writers say nothing new. They write about what they’ve been told and don’t give people the chance to better themselves. Writers go along with the status quo, maybe for what is entertaining or controversial. I think the BJM evokes courage.

In America, we talk about free speech and everything but I think, in general, it is slanted toward the controversial, trashy, and rubbish category. Why do Americans like to read about controversy? I don’t but maybe most people do. I’m 33. Not that old. I’m among the Generation X, which have been written about to be cynical or the children of divorce families. I am from a divorced family and some of my family’s past is chaotic with fistfights and verbal attacks.

Here’s an excerpt from a news article I was mentioned in concerning “Generation X” finding their place in the world.1

Jim Guittard of Dallas, who will be 32 in October, lives with his grandparents, shelves books part-time at a branch of the Dallas Public Library and hopes to head to Eastern Europe or Central Asia for the Peace Corps this fall.

Armed with a degree in American history from Colorado’s Western State College, Guittard started out working as an automobile-insurance-claims adjuster but grew tired of the constant bickering over money.

To pursue his passion for playing the guitar, he moved to Hollywood, Calif., where he found gigs playing in clubs. But the money wasn’t enough to provide a steady living. To survive, he worked a series of low-paying jobs at a talent agency, a rental-car office and an apartment-locator firm.

The experiences left him disillusioned about working in corporate America, and he moved back to Dallas a little more than two years ago.

“I don’t want to settle,” he says of his decision to seek happiness rather than money. “Do what your heart says.”

That’s why I take comfort in the BJM. The BJM, I think, looks past the obvious. The obvious is, yes, you may have a disfunctional past but you can be somebody. It’s about not labelling others. Labels can be bad.

So what else can I say? Well, if you’ve read this far then, thank you. The BJM is cool.

I’ve figured everything out! I think destinies are a bit demanding and take so much thought. But maybe if things were spelled out more. Here are the obvious choices for the rest of my life.

1. I could move to California and go sell chocolates for a little company called Guittard Chocolate Company. However, I despised sales when I worked for a car rental company. My last name may get me into this company. I’ll show up at the front door and say, “I’m here for my job. Give it!”

Currently, my uncle is feverishly working on linking the Texas Guittards to the California ones by way of DNA testing. As soon as the results come in with a positive match, I’ll fly to California and make my demands. This will work I know it. 🙂

2. I can be a song and dance man. My Guittard last name must have some meaning. Maybe it was back in France that my ancestors took up the guitar because they got sick of hauling around the Hurdy Gurdy or the French Horn.

3. I could go to Waco, Texas and hang out on Guittard Avenue on the campus of Baylor University. I could start yelling and hold up a sign about how my Great Grandfather was a History Professor at the University for fifty years.

4. Or I can do what I do and make my own destiny without reference to the shadows of the past.

The Blog Documenting the Life Of Jim Guittard

4th Generation Musician and 2nd Generation Writer.
Disclaimer:
MP3s on this site are for sampling purposes only. If you are an artist or represent an artist featured on this site and would like a file removed write me at jfguittard (at) juno (dot) com.